North Carolina 3rd Light Artillery (Confederate)

New Bern

Hatteras Island, on the outer shore of North Carolina, fell to Union forces in August, 1861. Roanoke Island, just to the north, was captured on February 8, 1862. Elizabeth City on the mainland followed days later. With the freedom to navigate unmolested through Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, Brig. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's command looked for other strategic targets of opportunity. The city of New Bern was a significant target, as the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad that connected the coast with the in…READ MORE

Antietam

The Army of the Potomac, under the command of Maj. Gen. George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17th, 1862.READ MORE

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

First Fort Fisher

The first assault on Fort Fisher was made in December 1864 by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, who withdrew when he realized a direct assault on the fort would be costly, and that Confederate reinforcements were only a few miles away.READ MORE

ColonelWilliam Lamb

Major GeneralWilliam H. C. Whiting

Second Fort Fisher

By January 1865, Fort Fisher on the North Carolina shore was the last coastal stronghold of the Confederacy. The fort protected blockade running vessels entering and departing Wilmington, the South's last open seaport on the Atlantic coast. Maj. Gen. Alfred Terry was placed in command of a Provisional Corps from the Army of the James, and was supported by a Navy and Marine Corps force of nearly 60 vessels under Rear Adm. David D. Porter. Terry's orders were to renew operations against the fort that had fai…READ MORE

Wyse Fork

By the end of February 1865, the North Carolina port city of Wilmington, defended by Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, had fallen to the army of Union Maj. Gen. John Schofield. The port city became a supply base for Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's army in North Carolina, then beginning to close in on Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army. To consolidate forces against Johnston, Sherman ordered Schofield's Army of the Ohio to advance inland from Wilmington, at the same time assigning Maj. Gen. Jacob Cox to move the U…READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralJohnson Hagood

Major GeneralRobert F. Hoke

Bentonville

After his march to the sea, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman headed north in early 1865 to unite with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army in Virginia. Only Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston's army stood between Sherman and Grant. After briefly blocking Sherman's advance at Averasboro, North Carolina on March 16, Johnston struck Maj. Gen. Henry Slocum's wing of Sherman's army near Bentonville on March 19. The Confederates ran into stiff resistance, as Slocum established a defensive position. Johnston's assaults con…READ MORE